Friday 22nd July 2023
Friday
It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Not only the school holidays (richly deserved I might add) but also bloody Tramlines! And so, obviously, the moment we arrive bright-eyed and bushy-tailed the heavens open. Not to worry. The Enemy kick things off at the Main Stage following a barn-storming set at Askern Music Festival and they sound massive again here. Traditional set opener ‘Aggro’ sets the tone and it is clear that both the band and the crowd are up for it. A greatest hits set taking in ‘Away From Here’, ‘We’ll Live and Die in These Towns’ and set closer ‘This Song’ goes down a treat with what is an impressive crowd for an early afternoon slot and Tom Clarke provides a stark reminder of why the band were so beloved in the first place. These songs mean something, especially in a working-class city and especially in Sheffield. There ain’t no future in British steel indeed.
Next up is a Tramlines stalwart that we’ve never arrived early enough to see. Barrioke. And yes, that is Shaun Williamson (Barry from Eastenders) leading the crowd through various karaoke classics. It’s a genuinely strange phenomenon this one. The mostly teenage crowd chant ‘Barry! Barry! Barry!’ about a fictional character who provided comic relief on a soap that aired before any of them were born. As the man himself points out, however, he will happily play a character called Barry as long as someone pays him to do so. Which is fair enough. We have a singalong. One kid does a genuinely brilliant rendition of Blur’s ‘Parklife’. Everybody leaves happy.
Circa Waves light up the Main Stage next with a career-spanning performance beginning with ‘Movies’ and of course ending with the obligatory run-through of festival classic ‘T-Shirt Weather’. The Liverpool band are old hands on the festival scene now and can always be relied upon to put on a great show and today is no exception.
It seems that I see Sea Girls more than most members of my immediate family and indeed this is the second time I have seen them this summer. They meander through a fairly unremarkable set before closing with ‘All I Want to Hear You Say’ and ‘Call Me Out’ both of which are admittedly great but the problem is they are a band with two great songs and pretty much nothing else. Still, I’ll no doubt see them again at some point over the summer. Rinse. Repeat.
This is where things get hazy. I spend most of DMA’s having an in-depth discussion with someone about former Sheffield United striker Billy Sharp but what I do hear sounds good, particularly ‘For Now’ which is a wonderful song and remains an anthem. Now, this is where things become really hazy. The pints had taken their toll. There had been some poutine. It was muddy. We definitely saw The Ks and while I know very little about them they performed a high-energy set to a massively receptive crowd. Definitely one to watch.
And so, to the man himself. Richard Ashcroft. What should have been a triumphant headlining set ended up being a little underwhelming. Songs were extended into tedious jamming sessions. Ashcroft himself seemed low energy. The songs, however, retain their power. ‘A Song for the Lovers’. ‘Sonnet’. ‘The Drugs Don’t Work’. These are modern-day poems. Anthems for the masses. These songs are bigger than Ashcroft now. They have transcended. And for all his faults, when he closes with ‘Bittersweet Sympathy’ it feels like a real Tramlines ‘moment’. The night descends into a fruitless search to have a wee somewhere, a preposterous amount of McDonald’s and singing indie classics in my mate’s kitchen. In short, a raging success. Roll on Saturday.